Ventura County students have again outscored their classmates statewide
in math and English, but many are still not considered proficient in either
subject.

Among local second-graders, for example, only 45 percent tested
proficient in English. The numbers were better for math, where 59 percent
tested proficient.

Those numbers, released Monday by the California Department of Education,
are based primarily on results from the California Standards Test. The exam,
given each spring in second through 11th grades, tests students on state
standards -- that is, what they are expected to learn in each grade.

While fewer than half of students statewide tested proficient or above,
scores have been improving.

This year, 40 percent of California students tested at proficient or
above in English, up 9 percentage points since 2001. In math, 38 percent
were proficient or above, up 6 percentage points.

Jack O'Connell, the state's chief of schools, attributed the gains to an
increased focus on teaching the standards.

Richard Simpson, an assistant superintendent for the Conejo Valley
Unified School District, agreed.

"This is the first time there's been a consistency in what students are
expected to learn, no matter where they go to school," Simpson said. "And
the stakes are higher."

The statewide gains were reflected locally, where test scores overall
have been improving over the past three years.

An example: the percentage of local fourth-graders considered proficient
in English has grown from 47 percent to 56 percent. In math, the number has
grown from 49 percent to 56 percent.

While that's good news, the scores reveal a persistent achievement gap
among the state's students.

Among those same local fourth-graders, for example, only 21 percent of
students who are learning English were considered proficient in the subject.
In math, it was only 28 percent.

That means the state must do more to help students whose first language
is not English, said Denis O'Leary, a teacher in the Rio District, school
board member in Oxnard Elementary and adviser to the League of United Latin
American Citizens.

"These scores should not be interpreted to mean that English learners
have failed," O'Leary said. "Reform must now respond to the needs of the
students."

Among O'Leary's suggestions: restore the money in budgets that would buy
materials specifically for children learning English.

The federal government will use the test results released Monday to help
determine whether schools have made "adequate yearly progress" under the No
Child Left Behind Act.

In two weeks, the state will release results indicating which schools met
that mark and which didn't. Schools that don't make sufficient progress face
a range of consequences, including allowing students to transfer to another
school or paying for outside tutoring. Ultimately, schools could face state
takeover.

At the same time, the state will release its own take on how students are
doing -- the Academic Performance Index. Those scores are based primarily on
the California Standards Test and the California High School Exit Exam.